Sometimes, a stiff drink is the only answer. Even if you're a cat.
Missey the 4-month-old black feline was prescribed a tall order of vodka following a vicious attack. According to The Huffington Post, the pet, who belongs to Paul Stephenson, 47, and his 27-year-old daughter Sara, was assaulted outside her home in Redcar, England, by a group of men who grabbed the cat and covered her in antifreeze.
Missey's owners quickly bathed their pet after discovering what happened, but they decided to take her to the vet the next day when she appeared to be getting sick.
After hearing about the attack, veterinarian Andrew Miller immediately put Missey on a vodka drip to rid the cat's system of the poisonous antifreeze that seeped in. While alcohol may not sound safe for kitties, Miller says vodka is exactly what Missey needed.
"It is the ethanol used in this particular spirit which helps," the veterinarian told the U.K.'s Metro. "Antifreeze is extremely toxic to animals' kidneys, and we specifically use vodka because the ethanol in it neutralizes the substance in the poison."
It took half a liter of vodka to get Missey's levels back to a safe place, and even then the feline had to deal with a bit of a hangover.
"Missey was totally blind drunk after being fed the vodka on a drip. She was treated over the course of two days and got through half a liter bottle of 37.9 percent vodka," owner Sara Stephenson told Metro. "She was trying to get up, but toppled over. Her eyes were out of focus, and when we took her home in a carry basket, her mouth had pressed up against the wire so it looked as though she had her teeth bared."
Missey's owners and Miller are optimistic that the sloshed cat will sober up and make a full recovery.
Pet owners should never try this treatment on their own or give their pets alcohol for any reason. If you suspect your pet has ingested a poisonous substance, take them to the vet immediately for professional help.
